Set the limits once, per trade
Exhibits differ building to building. One asks a million per occurrence, the tower down the street asks three, and the industrial park wants umbrella coverage over the top of both.
You type yours in, per trade, and a company clears them on its certificate before it can answer an RFP in that trade.
| Coverage | Your minimum |
|---|---|
| General liability (per occurrence) | You set the figure |
| General liability (aggregate) | You set the figure |
| Workers’ comp / employer’s liability | You set the figure |
| Auto liability | You set the figure |
| Umbrella / excess | You set the figure |
| Professional liability | You set the figure |
| Pollution liability | You set the figure |
| Crime / employee dishonesty | You set the figure |
How each coverage line is checked
A company uploads its certificate and a person reads it: the carrier, the limit on each line, the date it runs to. Until then the figure is what the company says it carries, and you see it as exactly that.
A company missing a line you made mandatory, or carrying less than your figure, is refused when it tries to send a proposal and told the shortfall in dollars.
- MeetsA verified certificate carries at least the figure you set.
- ShortThey carry the coverage and it is below your figure. The shortfall is named in dollars.
- MissingYou asked for a coverage and nothing on file answers it.
- ExpiredThe policy ran out, so the line fails with its own reason.
A lapsed policy fails on the day it lapses
The end date comes off the certificate and is held with it. Past that date the line fails the check rather than quietly passing.
Proposals stay open through the date and close the day after, until a renewed certificate has been verified.
- In forceThe line meets your figure.
- Last dayProposals stay open through the date printed.
- Next dayThe company cannot propose.
- RenewedA verified certificate opens it again.
What the file shows beside the limit
The General liability certificate carries the coverage limits your minimums are checked against, and the date the policy runs out.
The trade credential is the card or license its trade requires, and it carries its own date where one exists.
- General liability
- The certificate and the date the policy runs out.
- The trade credential
- The card or license its trade requires.
- The W-9
- Signed, with the company’s legal name.
